Bad News
by ThatsWTLoveBiotch
Summary: Willow's mom dies and Tara tries to help her deal with the loss. In this story, we're pretending Willow's parents were really supportive and not at all absent as they were in the TV series. This is based very loosely off of the episode of How I Met Your Mother called "Bad News". Rated M because there is a swear word and I want to be safe. The sequel will be happier, I promise.


**A/N: This is my first shot at writing depressing stuff. As I said in one of my other stories, I'm trying to branch out and see what I like writing the best (angst, pure fluff, etc.) There will be a sequel to this hopefully that shows Willow's work fantasies in action! I'm working on two stories with multiple chapters and I'm really excited about that. If you've been reading my fics- Thank you! If you read this fic- THANK YOU! Reviews and constructive criticism is always welcome. Sorry for any mistakes. ~ThatsWTLoveBiotch**

* * *

Willow smiled widely to herself as she flopped on the couch and grabbed her phone to text Tara.

Willow started to type to Tara that she got the job she applied for as the school counselor, but decided this was news she should tell in person.

Willow imagined all the good times they would have now that they both worked in the same building. Sneaking to the janitor's closet to make out when Tara's students were at lunch, sneaking to her classroom when Tara's students were at recess, and eating together in the faculty room were just some of Willow's fantasies.

The redhead jumped up from the couch when she heard Tara come through the door. She smiled widely at the blonde and opened her mouth to tell Tara the good news. Willow took in Tara's disheveled appearance. There were paint streaks on her face and her hair was slightly askew as if she had been running her fingers through it repeatedly. She was wearing a black coat that Willow thought looked particularly snuggly and wouldn't mind being wrapped up in.

Tara started crying and Willow's face fell immediately. Tara nervously wrung her hands and looked down, trying to figure out how to best say what she needed to say.

"Willow, your mom had a heart attack. She didn't make it."

Willow brought her hands up to her face and started crying into them. "I'm not ready for this, she mumbled before she crashed into Tara. Suddenly, Tara's coat was wrapped around Willow, along with Tara's arms pulling her into an embrace.

Tara pulled Willow's head to her chest, not knowing what to say and figuring her support was more needed of the physical kind than the verbal kind.

Willow slowly sunk to the ground, still gripping Tara's coat and burying her face into Tara's chest. She sobbed violently for a few minutes, her body rocking back and forth in Tara's arms.

_*1 hour earlier*_

It was finger painting day in Tara's class and one particular student, Tyler, was giving her trouble. He had just dumped paint onto the ground purposely when Tara walked over to him and sat down so they could talk at eye-level.

"Tyler, you're going to have to go in the time-out chair. I'm putting you in the time-out chair because you haven't been behaving with the paint. I want you to apologize to Jenna for getting paint in her hair, then sit in time-out."

The young boy nodded his understanding and went over to Jenna to apologize. He sat on the time-out chair as Tara instructed. 'He might actually be learning to behave,' Tara thought hopefully.

The boy spent five minutes on the chair. Tara used her time to clean up the paints and send the children to recess. She walked over to Tyler and sat down so she was eye-level again. "Tyler, are you sorry for being bad with the paints?"

Tyler nodded sheepishly and looked up to apologize so he could join the other kids outside. The dark haired boy started giggling when he saw the blue and green paint on Tara's cheeks.

"What's so funny?" Tara laughed along with the boy, even though she didn't know what they were laughing at.

"You have paint on your face." Tyler brought his small hand up to cover his giggles.

Tara smiled and motioned for him to go outside to recess with his friends. She walked to the bathroom so she could wash the paint off her face before she went home to Willow looking like that.

Tara met up with another teacher in the bathroom and they chatted for a few minutes with one another. "Tyler Robinson is giving me trouble again."

The other teacher, Mrs. Benson, sighed in annoyance, knowing all too well how much of a problem Tyler could be. "What did he do this time?"

"He put paint in Jenna's hair and he wouldn't follow the rules of playing with the paints so I put him in the chair. Not to mention, last week he purposely squirted another boy with his juice at snack time." Tara tried to scrape the dried paint off her face with a wet paper towel.

"Does he have a bad home life?"

Tara leant her hand on the side of the sink as she turned to look at Mrs. Benson. "His parents are getting a divorce. They haven't told him or his sister yet, but he has told me a few times that his parents have been fighting around him a lot."

Mrs. Benson shook her head disapprovingly. "I wish people would learn how to work out their problems instead of calling it quits. Apparently it's not in sickness and health, it's just when it's convenient."

Tara agreed and went back to work on the paint. She had managed to get some of it off when she got a phone call. The caller ID said 'Ira Rosenberg'.

"Excuse me for a second," Tara mumbled before she stepped out of the bathroom to take the call.

"Hello? Ira?"

Willow's father took a few deep breaths before he answered her. "Sheila. She, uh, had a heart attack. She passed away."

Tara's whole world crashed down around her. Sheila was like a second mother to her and now she was just gone. Tara could hear from Ira's voice that he was emotionally exhausted and needed to let him get some sleep, though she didn't figure he would be able to rest much.

"I'll let you go, Ira. Have you told Willow yet?"

"No. Please be there for her, Tara." Ira hung up and Tara realized she needed to get home to Willow as soon as possible.

Tara rushed back into the bathroom, asked Mrs. Benson to find someone to cover her class in the case of a family emergency, and ran out of the school building. She got in her car and drove home to Willow. Sweet Willow who was about to find out her mother died. Precious Willow whose heart was about to be broken by the love of her life. Tara had to remind herself that she wasn't breaking Willow's heart, the universe was.

Tara saw a flower shop ahead of her and stopped in to pick up some flowers for Willow. She spent five minutes picking out the perfect batch of Willow's favorite flowers, lilies. Tara drove the rest of the way home and threw the flowers out when she got into the garage. Flowers weren't going to make Willow feel better about her mom's death.

She took a deep breath before she walked in the door, making sure she was ready to be the solid, emotionally stable person Willow would need her to be. This would be a rough time, but they could get through it, together.

_ *present*_

Willow was rocking back and forth as she sobbed, never feeling as though she would ever be happy again. "My mom's dead," Willow choked out through her tears. She looked up at Tara through her long, tear-soaked lashes and crumbled again when she saw Tara's empathetic gaze.

"I'm sorry, baby." Tara cried, hugging Willow's head to her chest and rocking her gently back and forth, hoping the calming motion would at least subdue Willow's tears so she could get some sleep.

Tara made a move to get up and Willow just cried harder. "She's gone," Tara heard Willow whisper.

"I know, baby. But nothing can ruin her memory." Tara really wanted Willow to go upstairs so the redhead could sleep, but didn't want to push her into anything.

Willow nodded and wiped her tears with the back of her hand, sniffling and closing her eyes for a while. Willow fell asleep against Tara after a few minutes. Tara continued rocking Willow, wanting her to sleep as long as possible.

Tara leaned backwards slightly to grab the blanket off the couch and Willow woke up abruptly, gasping quietly. Tara mentally cursed herself for waking her girlfriend, but pulled the blanket over them anyway. She leant her back against the couch and wound her arms around Willow again, pulling the smaller girl closer to her.

Willow fell back asleep again after a while, occasionally mumbling something about her mother in her sleep. Tara stroked her hair as she slept, amazed at her beautiful girlfriend. "We can do this," she whispered to her sleeping lover.

Tara let the tears fall down her cheeks and onto Willow's hair as she cried. She cried for her girlfriend who now had one less parent than she did yesterday. She cried for Ira who had to grow old by himself now. She cried for herself because Sheila was like the mom she lost when she was seventeen. She cried for the world because now it had lost one of the wonderful people occupying it. She also cried for Sheila, who was the most amazing parent to her child and now didn't have the opportunity to see her daughter get married or have kids.

Willow woke slowly, first blinking her eyes, then staring straight ahead at the picture on the mantle. It had been taken about four years ago. They had been out of college for about two years at that point and Tara had just gotten her job at the school. Willow's family and Tara went out to dinner to celebrate. Sheila had paid for the meal, treating her daughter and her daughter's girlfriend. They had asked the waiter to take the picture for them. Tara, in her beautiful red dress, was on one side of Sheila, Willow was on the other side. Ira had his hand on Tara's shoulder and Sheila had an arm around each of the girls on her sides. They all had smiles on their faces, happy as they could be for the future.

Now, Willow realized, the future was a lie. The future is something you tell yourself when you need something to believe in. Nobody knows what the future holds and nobody can know. Sheila didn't have a future anymore, and Willow didn't believe she had one either.

Tara felt Willow's tears before she heard her girlfriend crying. Willow wasn't shaking anymore and her sobbing wasn't as violent as it was before. Instead, the redhead was staring straight ahead with an empty look in her eyes.

"Do you want to talk, darling?"

Willow didn't answer, but kept looking ahead. Tara thought she was going into some kind of shock and she shook Willow's shoulders. When she didn't respond to that either, Tara picked her up and carried her bridal style up the steps to their bedroom.

"Baby, you have to talk to me. It doesn't have to be about your mom. Just tell me something."

Willow shifted her gaze to stare straight into Tara's eyes. Her blank stare nearly ripped Tara's heart out of her chest.

Willow opened her mouth to speak and Tara got excited. Maybe she would talk! Maybe she would be okay! Instead of talking, Willow leaned over the side of the bed and vomited onto the carpet.

Tara frowned as Willow barely even realized what she did and sunk back into the pillows on the bed. Her empty stare returned to her face as she gazed at the ceiling.

"I'm going to go downstairs and get supplies to clean this up. We can talk when I get back. Alright, sweetie?"

When Willow didn't answer or even acknowledge Tara at all, she padded down the stairs to get cleaning supplies. She got Willow a glass of water out of the refrigerator before she returned to her girlfriend.

Tara set the water glass on the stand beside Willow and got down on her hands and knees to clean the mess Willow made. After the mess was cleaned, Tara threw the paper towels away and set the cleaning solution in the bathroom, not wanting to leave Willow again.

Tara climbed into bed with Willow and pulled a blanket on top of them. Willow kicked the fabric off of her and curled into fetal position, her back to Tara. Tara cuddled into Willow from behind and wrapped her arms around the redhead. Willow slowly started to relax and brought her knees down from her chest. She turned around in Tara's arms and cuddled into her chest. They both cried until they fell asleep, and Tara held Willow the whole night.

The next morning, Willow woke first but made no effort to move out of bed. She felt as if she could lay there forever. Her mom was really dead, and there was no way to bring her back. Why should Willow even get up in the morning? Aside from Tara, Willow had nothing to help her out of her slump.

Tara woke up about ten minutes later and saw that Willow was already awake, continuing to stare at the ceiling.

"How long how to been up, baby?"

No response.

"Did you drink any of your water, darling?"

Silence.

"Do you want breakfast, Willow?"

Nothing.

"Are you ever going to talk to me, sweetheart?"

Tara looked at Willow, expecting nothing out of her heartbroken lover. Willow nodded. Her gaze never left the ceiling. It wasn't much, but at least it was something, and Tara appreciated it.

"I'm going to get you some fresh water. I love you, Willow." Tara kissed Willow's forehead before she set off down the stairs for water.

Willow took a few meager sips of the water before she set it down.

"It's progress, baby. You can do it."

Willow looked at Tara, and nodded. She still had absolutely nothing behind her eyes, but she at least was communicating. The two girls sat in silence. Tara was cuddled onto Willow's chest with her arm slung over Willow's stomach. The redhead was laying straight on her back, staring up again.

"She used to take me to the beach. We'd play in the water. All the other kids were afraid of the water so they would stay on the sand and make sandcastles, but I was never content with that. She said I was brave."

Tara's head snapped up as Willow started talking. She had missed hearing that beautiful voice. Tears collected in Tara's eyes as she listened to Willow's story, but she wiped them away before Willow could see, knowing she had to be strong. If Willow would have said that little two days ago, Tara would have thought she was sick, but those four sentences Willow just spoke seemed like a mouthful for the smaller girl.

Tara laid beside Willow and was overjoyed when Willow rolled over to face her. Willow leaned forward to kiss Tara and the blonde met her halfway. They softly kissed for a few seconds before Willow rolled onto her back again.

"For my fifth birthday, she took me to the carnival. I won a blue fish and we bought a bowl for it on the way home at the pet store down the street. She ordered me a cake shaped like a carnival tent. She couldn't get the candles to light so she sang me happy birthday five times until she finally got all the candles lit. That was my favorite birthday party."

Tara smiled sadly before she draped her arm over Willow again. "It's okay if you want to sleep again, baby. I'll stay here the whole time."

Willow shook her head no and took a few more sips of her water.

"Do you want to take a bath? I can get it ready for you, sweetie." Tara moved to get up before Willow put her hand on Tara's arm and pulled her back down.

"The first time I brought you home, when we had dinner at my house, she pulled me into the kitchen halfway through dinner. She said how respectful and wonderful you were. She said she always hoped I would end up with someone like you, ever since I was a little girl. She didn't care that I was dating a girl, as long as you took care of me. She said she was excited to see us get married. She would have been a great grandmother to our kids."

Tara tried to blink back her tears, but eventually couldn't stop her outpouring of emotions. Willow gently wiped the tears from Tara's cheeks with her fingers. She stared at Tara until she stopped crying and wiped the rest of her tears away.

She returned her gaze to the ceiling after she saw Tara was alright. They were making slow progress, but would it be enough?

"Do you want that bath now, darling?"

Willow nodded and watched as Tara climbed off the bed and went into the bathroom to start the bath. Tara drew the water to just the right temperature and went out to get Willow. Willow wasn't on the bed and Tara started to panic.

"Willow? Willow? Sweetie, where are you?" She couldn't hide the fright in her voice.

Tara walked into the guest room as a last resort when she hadn't found Willow anywhere else in the house. Willow was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room, staring out the window blankly.

"Willow, baby, why are you in here?" Tara sat down next to Willow and stroked her hair gently with her hand.

"When we first bought the house, my mom was so excited. She asked to come over right away when I told her. She drove over as soon as we got off the phone. She hugged me when I opened the door. She smelled of lavender. I still remember exactly what she said. She looked at me and said, 'Willow, don't grow up without me'. Now I'm growing up without her and I promised her I wouldn't."

Willow started crying softly and she put her face in her hands. Tara brought her hands away from her face gently and lead her to the bath in their room that was probably cold by then. Willow let herself be taken to the bathroom and she stripped her clothes. When she got in, the water was still surprisingly warm enough.

Willow soaked for a while, with Tara by her side the whole time, getting her water when she was thirsty and offering her sad smiles when the redhead started to get her empty look again.

The phone rang and Tara let it go to voicemail, not wanting to risk leaving Willow alone for more than two seconds to get her water. She trusted her girlfriend, but grief could make even the formerly happiest of people do something they might not be able to recover from.

Willow stepped out of the tub and dried herself off slowly. She walked into their bedroom and grabbed a sweatshirt and sweatpants out of her drawer. Tara check the voicemail while Willow changed.

"Willow? It's dad. I have to talk to you. Call me back please." Ira sounded as if he hadn't slept since he heard the news of his wife's departure.

"Can you call him?" This was the first time Willow had spoken about something other than her mother's memories. She spoke with sadness, but it was better than talking with no emotion behind her words as she had before.

Tara nodded her head and picked up the phone to dial Ira's number. "Hello, Ira?"

"Where's Willow?"

Tara glanced at Willow, who had now once again resumed her spot on the bed, but now she was facing Tara. It was progress, and that was all Tara could ask for. "She would rather I talk with you."

"Can you put me on speaker? She doesn't have to talk but I want her to hear it from me." Ira waited for Tara to tell him his daughter was listening.

"She can hear you." Tara held Willow's hand as she talked to Ira and Willow kissed her knuckles.

"The funeral is Thursday at 6." Ira could be heard audibly crying on the other end as he spoke the words.

Willow nodded and blinked up at Tara. "Thank you, Ira." Tara told him kindly before Willow reached over and hung up the phone for her.

"Two days," Willow muttered so quiet that Tara could barely hear her, "two days and we're putting her in the ground."

Tara squeezed Willow's hand and kissed her gently on the lips. Willow kissed back, but not with the same intensity and passion she usually had.

"I don't have anything to wear," Willow admitted before she ran to the bathroom. She threw up in the toilet and wiped her mouth, taking sips of water when she got back to the bed and laid down.

Tara stroked her hand along Willow's hair and ran her hand along Willow's face. "I'll take you shopping. We can pick something out together."

Willow nodded and snuggled in closer to Tara. "What are you going to do about work?"

"I called in last night when you were sleeping. They let me have the week off."

Tears started to form in Willow's eyes before she swiped them away. "What about next week?"

Tara brought Willow's head gently underneath her chin and just sat there, enjoying the warmth her girlfriend gave off.

"I said, what about next week?" Willow spoke with a mix of anger and desperation.

"I'll figure something out. I promise I won't leave you alone."

Willow nodded before she gazed into Tara's eyes, "I forgot to tell you, I got the job."

Tara felt like celebrating at the news that she and Willow would be working together, but she figured she'd wait until Willow felt better. She wasn't even sure if Willow would keep the job now after everything that happened.

"That's great, baby."

Willow nodded her agreement at her accomplishment.

* * *

The next day, Willow and Tara went shopping at the mall to pick out dresses for the funeral.

"What about this one?" Tara held up a lacy dress that would have fallen to about the middle of Willow's thigh.

"No."

Tara continued searching through the racks until Willow tapped on her shoulder and held up a dress for her approval. The dress was sleeveless and dropped all the way to the ground when Willow was holding it. "You can try it on."

Willow nodded and let Tara lead her to a dressing room and she snuck inside with her. Willow peeled off her clothes and let Tara help her pull the dress over her legs. She turned so Tara could zip it up for her in the back.

Willow faced herself in the mirror and her face started to contort, her shoulders slumped, and her eyes drooped. It was too long for her to wear. It would have dragged along behind her if she wore it to the funeral.

"Willow, sweetie, it's okay. We'll find you another one." Tara was quick to assure her girlfriend.

"No, it's not okay! My mom's dead and I can't wear this dress! It was perfect!" Willow shouted at Tara, who flinched slightly at the volume of Willow's voice, but didn't take it personally.

Tara brought her arms around Willow to hug her so she could cry freely on her shoulder.

"She was perfect," Willow softly cried into Tara's hair and unzipped the dress with one hand reaching behind her back. She stepped out of the dress and pushed Tara against the wall. Tara wasn't able to follow Willow's mood swings, from upset to horny in .5 seconds.

"Willow, don't," Tara mumbled against Willow's lips as she fought to keep Willow's tongue out of her mouth.

"Come on, Tara. Fuck me. It's what mommy dearest would have wanted. You know, if she was still alive."

Tara's eyes widened disbelievingly at Willow's outburst. "Willow! Stop it!"

Willow continued trying to attack Tara with her lips while she spoke, "I don't mind if you use force, by the way."

Tara pushed Willow a little too hard and she slammed into the door of the dressing room. Her entire body crumbled when she hit the wall. She sunk to the ground, tears now flowing freely down her face. Tara's mouth dropped as she realized what she just did.

"Willow, I'm so so sorry. I didn't know what else to do," Tara sobbed as she started walking closer to Willow to help her off the ground.

Willow got up quickly and dodged her reach, as hard as it was to manage in the cramped dressing room. "Don't touch me," she growled as she continued crying.

Tara sat down on the ground in front of the door so Willow wouldn't be able to get out.

"What just happened?" Willow's voice broke Tara's heart. The brokenness and despair in her voice was almost unbearable.

Tara didn't answer her. She folded her arms over her chest and stared at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Tara."

Tara gazed up at Willow and saw the look of regret on her face. She quickly got up and walked over to Willow. She grabbed Willow's head and pulled it to her shoulder then put her arms around the redhead. Willow sniffled and picked her head up off of Tara's shoulder after a while.

"Thanks for stopping me. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I haven't been thinking much lately."

Tara nodded and guided her out of the dressing room. A small crowd had formed because of their loud disagreement.

"Come on," Tara pulled on Willow's hand as they pushed through the crowd. Stares and whispers shot through the crowd. They probably all had good intentions, but Tara wasn't in the mood to deal with eavesdroppers.

They stopped at a different store and both found perfect dresses to wear. Willow found a shorter version of the plain, sleeveless dress she had found in the previous store. Tara bought a dress with three-quarter length sleeves with a see-through neckline that fell right above her knees.

Tara drove them home and they both hung their dresses up in the closet.

"Tomorrow," Willow sighed as she ran her hand down the length of the dress.

"You've been so strong, Willow. I love you so much." Tara intertwined her fingers with Willow's and put her left hand on Willow's shoulder to rest her head on and gaze sideways at the dress, her head leaning against Willow's.

"I love you."

Tara smiled sadly and kissed Willow's cheek. "I'm going to take a shower. Do you want to come?"

Willow shook her head before she kissed Tara on the mouth. "You go. I'll be fine, I promise."

Tara glanced at her and saw that she was telling the truth. She really would be fine, they just had to give it time.

Tara started the shower and was halfway through washing her hair when Willow burst in the door. Tara whipped the shower curtain aside and saw Willow's tear streaked face.

"I broke a glass," Willow cried.

Tara took Willow's hand in hers and kissed her. "It's okay, darling. I'll clean it up when I get out of the shower. Don't try to sweep it up, you might hurt yourself."

Willow nodded and walked back into the bedroom to lay down on the bed.

Tara cleaned the glass up when she got out of the shower and threw away the shards. She climbed into bed with Willow and encouraged her to get some sleep for the big day tomorrow.

Willow eventually drifted off to sleep and Tara followed soon after. The redhead dreamed of her mother. She dreamed of the garden she helped her mother tend to when she was eight. She dreamed of all the times her mother would take her shopping and they'd get dinner afterwards. She dreamed of the day that picture on their mantle was taken, four years ago.

Willow started getting restless in her sleep and ended up waking Tara. When Tara held her, Willow dreamed of the countless nightmares her mother had comforted her with. She dreamed of the warmth of her mother's embrace and the way she would sometimes wake Willow up when her alarm clock failed to go off.

"Willow? Sweetie, it's time to get up," Tara gently shook Willow and smiled when she saw Willow's vibrant green eyes open. "What do you want for breakfast, baby?"

Willow reached her hand around Tara's head and wound her hands in the blonde's hair. She pulled Tara's head down to meet hers and kissed her. Willow seemed to have that same passion she had before her mother's death.

"I needed that," Willow breathed as Tara climbed out of bed and went around to the side of Willow's bed. Tara held her hand out and smiled when the redhead took her hand and stepped out of bed.

Willow ate a muffin that Tara made her and drank some milk to wash it down.

"Good job, darling." Tara praised her when Willow reached for her second muffin of the morning. Willow returned Tara's smile before she sobered again.

"My mother's funeral is today," Willow muttered before she set the muffin back on her plate and pushed it away, to Tara's dismay. "I'm sorry, baby. I can't have another."

Tara nodded and pulled Willow's head towards her to kiss her temple briefly before she picked Willow's plate up, dumped the muffin down the sink, and put her plate in the dishwasher.

Willow smiled gratefully at Tara for understanding and managed to swallow more milk.

Willow spent the rest of the time until she had to leave for the funeral telling Tara her favorite stories about her mother.

"She named me Willow because she said she liked the way it rolled off her tongue as she said it. She also liked nature and figured what better way to honor the earth than to name a part of her after one of her favorite trees. Willow means majestic and resilient, like the tree. Able to weather the storm and bounce back, as strong as ever. I know she would be proud of me for being so strong right now."

"When I was younger, she would color with me while she watched her favorite TV show. She loved soap operas and so we would sit on the ground coloring together. When I had to take naps, she would put me to bed and sit with me until I woke up. Then, we would go back to coloring and watching TV."

A small smile started to appear on Willow's face as she was telling her stories. She made the decision then to be grateful to have the time she had with her mother, even though she was taken away from her way too young.

"She taught me how to bake when I was 13. I baked a batch of brownies on my own and she acted like they were they best thing she'd ever tasted even though they were straight from the  
box. She asked me to help her bake my grandmother a cake because her birthday was two weeks from when I baked the brownies. I helped her bake it and it was the most delicious cake either of us had ever had."

Soon, it was time to get ready for the funeral and Willow changed into her dress. The dress hugged her curves in all the right places, but Tara was more interested in how Willow was feeling rather than how she looked.

* * *

"Are you alright, Willow?" Tara held her hand as she drove to the funeral home.

"No," Willow started crying again but managed to get the tears under control before they walked in.

The topic of the funeral was "Last Words from the Deceased" and Willow sat quietly through the service as she waited for her turn to speak. Ira told a heartwarming story about the last time he would ever talk to his wife.

"I told her I loved her and she told me she loved me back. Then we went to sleep," Ira wiped the tears that had fallen down his cheek and stepped down from the podium to let Willow talk.

Willow stood up after getting a kiss of encouragement from Tara. "You can do this, Willow," Tara whispered as Willow walked to the front of the room.

The pressure of everyone's eyes on her seemed to be too much for Willow to handle in her state of grief. She cleared her throat and wiped a few stray tears before looking at Tara desperately.

"Tara, can you please come up here with me?" Willow's voice cracked and Tara could see how much her support was needed. She walked very quickly up to the podium and held Willow's hand. She rubbed her hand soothingly across Willow's back, trying to calm her down.

Tara spoke into the microphone, but was looking directly at Willow, "What were your mother's last words to you, sweetie?"

Willow gave Tara a grateful smile before turning to face the crowd. She took a deep, calming breath, squeezed Tara's hand, and spoke.

"The last time I spoke to my mom, I called her and told her I got a new job. She knew I had applied for a job in the school where Tara works," Willow looked at Tara and squeezed her hand again, "I told her I was going to be the new school counselor."

Willow started to shake and stopped talking. Tara leaned down into her ear and whispered, "Come on, Willow. You can be strong like an amazon."

Willow cleared her throat again and resumed speaking to the depressed crowd.

"She told me she was so proud of me. Her last words to me were 'Next thing I know you're going to tell me you and Tara are married and you're having kids, and I can't wait until that day. I love you'. Then she laughed and hung up."

Willow stepped down from the podium and kissed her hand before putting it over her heart. "I love you too, mom," she whispered before she sat down in her seat again.

After the service, they drove to the cemetery and watched as Sheila Rosenberg was lowered into the ground.

"I love you, too," Willow cried into Tara's shoulder.


End file.
